Tuesday June 8th - Saturday June 11th 1999

We caught the Greyhound bus from New York to Washington, where we stayed with Robin and Ann Woollatt, parents of my friend Trevor. For convenience sake, the Washington section is divided into four parts: landmarks (this page), monuments, museums and galleries.

Washington is a radical contrast from New York - the town planners decreed that no building could be higher than the 555-foot high Washington Monument, and there is no real shortage of land, so DC has not resorted to high-rise blocks a la New York. The result is a city with more of a European feel to it (at least in the centre) with many Roman and Greek style buildings, although on a grand scale rarely found elsewhere. This is hardly surprising, given that the city was designed by a Frenchman, Pierre L-Enfant. One other surprising aspect of the greater DC area is the amount of green space.

For the most part, Veronika and I stayed in downtown DC, primarily around the so-called National Mall. This area is the home to the Smithsonian Institution, a sprawling collection of museums which would take weeks to cover in any great detail.

Veronika and I outside the White House.

Veronika at the entrance to the Lincoln memorial.

The schools had just broken up for the summer while we were there, so many of the tourist attractions were swarming with brash loud American youngsters, often in groups wearing identical t-shirts, presumably to make it easier for the teachers to keep track of them.

At the top end of the National Mall is the Capitol Hill, the centre of US government, and perhaps the most famous landmark in DC. I found it extraordinary that as a foreign tourist, I was allowed entry and to roam around the building (with certain limitations, of course) on my own, with no attempt made to check my identity. Admittedly though our bags were sent through an x-ray machine, but generally security in DC was much lower than it would be for example in London.

Veronika at the Reflecting Pool, with the Congress building in the background.

A closer, rear view of Congress.

Next | Travel index | Family history | Romany | Main index